The year
Liyana Abboud turns fourteen her parents decide to move the family across the
ocean from St. Louis to Palestine/Israel, where her Arabic father, Poppy, was
born and raised. Liyana’s brother, Rafik is excited, but Liyana’s not so sure.
She’ll be leaving the only place she’s ever lived in, all of her friends, and
the first boy to kiss her. Poppy transfers to a hospital in Jerusalem and the
family rents a house between the ancient city and the town of Ramallah where
Liyana’s grandmother, Sitti, and countless uncles, aunts, and cousins live. Although
there are many things Liyana likes in her new country—the interesting people
she meets, the grey Arabic notebooks just right for sticking in your pocket,
delicious foods like katayef—she struggles to learn Arabic and to
understand the cultural expectations set by society for teenage girls.Then she meets charismatic and intelligent
Omer and all of her doubts about her new country fade. But Omer is Jewish and
the two find their friendship forbidden by years of animosity and hate between
the Arabs and the Jews. Will Liyana’s family ever accept her budding romance
with Omer? Will this new country ever feel like home?

3.CRITICAL
ANALYSIS

The book
begins with portions of two poems and a quotation from Anndee Hochman that
address the passage of time, the meaning of home, and the intertwined nature of
Israel and Palestine. These poems not only prepare the reader for the themes of
the story, but also echo Nye’s unique, poetic style of writing.

The book
reads like a series of chronological essays with each one contributing to
Liyana’s growing understanding of her family, her identity, her hopes, and her
culture. This is illustrated by the subtitle of the last chapter, “Doors: There
was a door in the heart / that had no lock on it” (p. 268).

Liyana
is a budding writer and spends most of her free time observing and writing. For
example, she keeps a running list of first lines for stories or poems or movies.
This interest allows Nye to explore words and their meanings to their fullest
extent. Liyana is not content with the surface meaning of a word, a phrase, or
a person. She stubbornly delves deeper, which leads her to more questions and
curiosities. Through Liyana’s eyes Nye is able to include many cultural markers
including the preparation and eating of food, bustling market places, school
life, and several major landmarks, such as the Dead Sea.

Liyana
is becoming a woman and is confronted with cultural markers in the differences
in gender roles, clothing, and behaviors between her male and female relatives.
Liyana struggles to accept societal and cultural norms in her new country,
especially those that restrict her from doing things she could do in St. Louis
because she is female. Liyana had her first kiss before leaving America, so she
can’t understand why boys and girls in Jerusalem aren’t allowed to kiss when
family and friends kissed each other constantly on the cheeks. Poppy replies
that public kissing “is not okay here. It is simply not done. Anyway, it
is not supposed to be done.” Liyana fires back, “Not by anyone?...Not by
Greeks or Jews or Armenians, or only not by Arabs?” (p. 61).

Nye
examines the fragile relationship between Arabs and Jews from an outsider’s
point of view. Although her father is Arabic, Liyana thinks of herself as “the
half-American with the Arab eyes in the navy blue Armenian school uniform” (p.
84). Although a mostly Arabic perspective is presented, Nye uses Omer to bring
a Jewish point of view into the story. Through Liyana’s story Nye advocates for
peace, but she does not paint a rosy picture of the current relationship
between the two peoples. She acknowledges that there is pain and resentment of
many years on both sides. For instance, Susan, Liyana’s mother, urges her
children to think of families fighting at dinner tables. Family members fight
because they care, “with strangers you don’t care so much.” Rafik agrees, “if
you didn’t love someone why would you even bother to fight with him?”
And so Liyana wonders, “Do you think the Arabs and Jews secretly love one
another?” and Poppy replies, “I think…they are bonded for life. Whether they
like it or not” (p. 73). However, although Nye wishes for a more peaceful
future, violence and hate are a part of this story, such as the ransacking of
Sitti’s house and the short, but terrifying imprisonment of Liyana’s father.

Even
though Nye tackles big issues, including hate, faith, and peace, Liyana’s voice
remains hopeful. The Abboud’s are a humorous family and they often choose to
see the amusing side of a situation. For instance, the headmaster at Liyana’s
new school, a priest wearing a burgundy robes and a giant pointed hat, informs
her that she cannot wear her ring because it is considered a distraction. Later,
Liyana comments to Poppy, “Distraction? If I were wearing a giant cosmic cone
on my head, would I have room to talk?” (p. 78).

Nye
deftly navigates the multilingual aspects of living in Israel. The story is
written from Liyana’s perspective, who struggles to learn Arabic and has very
little knowledge of Hebrew, however, all non-English words are printed in
italics and explained within the text. The most notable term is the title,
which Liyana explores and defines in a chapter subtitled, “Darling: a dearly
loved person, / a favorite, a charmer” (p. 213). The number of languages spoken
in the city is used to emphasize the unwillingness of Arabs and Jews to communicate,
no matter how many languages they speak.

Liyana
struggles to accept her new home because she loved her old home so much, but
gradually she comes to understand that “every day is a new map. But it’s just a
scrap of it, an inch” (p. 266). She realizes that moving to Jerusalem is not
the beginning or end of her story, but the middle. The conclusion of Nye’s book
is open-ended, yet satisfying. Liyana accepts her new home into her heart, the
good and the bad, and although she knows that peace between the Arabs and Jews
will not come easily, it is not impossible. And so the book ends on a hopeful
note.

Review
in PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY: “Nye's climactic ending will leave readers
pondering, long after the last page is turned, why Arabs, Jews, Greeks and
Armenians can no longer live in harmony the way they once did.”

Review from SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “Though the story begins
at a leisurely pace, readers will be engaged by the characters, the romance,
and the foreshadowed danger. Poetically imaged and leavened with humor, the
story renders layered and complex history understandable through character and
incident. Habibi succeeds in making the hope for peace compellingly personal
and concrete...as long as individual citizens like Liyana's grandmother Sitti
can say, ‘I never lost my peace inside.’”

Review
in BOOKLIST: “The story is steeped in detail about the place and
cultures: food, geography, history, shopping, schools, languages, religions,
etc. Just when you think it is obtrusive to have essays and journal entries
thrust into the story, you get caught up in the ideas and the direct simplicity
with which Nye speaks. She does try to cover too much--no book can tell the
whole story of the Middle East--but this is a story that makes us ‘look both ways.’”

5.CONNECTIONS

*The chapters have poetic subheadings. Have each teen pick
one and write about why they chose it, how it related to the content of the
chapter, and if it relates to their own life.

*Other books that address the relationship between Arabs and
Jews in Israel:

More Blogs by Amy Seto Musser

About Me

I am a children's librarian at the Denver Public Library. I graduated with a Masters of Library Science from Texas Woman's University. I feel lucky to have a career that allows me to combine my theatre experience and my love for children’s lit and programming. I'm always on the look out for creative ways to incorporate the arts (music, drama, dance, visual arts) to extend books beyond the page.